News: Starbucks Switches to Steel Cut Oatmeal Sorta

Starbucks now features steel cut oatmeal blended with rolled oats for a heartier texture in new Hearty Blueberry Oatmeal. The new blend is topped with fresh blueberries, a fruit, nut, and seed medley, and agave syrup. You have to let it steep for 5 minutes before it's ready.

Steel cut oatmeal is also now in the mix for Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal, the addition is accompanied by a name change to "Starbucks Classic Oatmeal." This version of oatmeal comes topped with brown sugar, dried fruits, and nuts.

News: Chick-fil-A - Chicken Tortilla Soup Returns

For a little heat to help you keep warm this winter, Chick-fil-A returns their Chicken Tortilla Soup for a limited time. It's made with shredded boneless chicken breast, navy and black beans, a blend of vegetables (including onions, corn, bell peppers, celery), and a variety of spices in a cream-based soup, topped with seasoned tortilla strips.

The soup is offered in medium (8-ounce) and large (16-ounce) sizes at $3.65 and $5.99 respectively.

News: Domino's Offers $5 in Domino's Dollars When you Buy Two $5.99 Pizzas

Domino's is offering a deal on top of one of their deals for a limited time. Specifically, they are offering $5 in Domino's Dollars when you digitally (online or via phone apps) order two medium two-topping pizzas for $5.99 each between now and January 13, 2013.

You can use Domino's Dollar like cash on your next online Domino's order but they're only good for 10 days after you receive them. They're delivered to your email in the form of a promo code. They can only be earned until January 13.

Review: Foster's Freeze - Old Fashion Burger

Foster's Freeze is a Californian soft-serve chain that eventually branched out into burgers and fries. I'd never seen a burger Foster's Freeze before this one. I know them mostly as the licensor of frozen desserts for El Pollo Loco, so I was a little curious to try their savory fare.

Their Old Fashion burger features a quarter-pound patty, a slice of American cheese, lettuce, tomato pickles, and Foster All American Sauce (i.e. "secret sauce").

It was $2.99 for the burger.

News: Burger King - New Chicken Nuggets and More New Items!

The menu turnstile has been really rolling at Burger King ever since they expanded their menu last April. The latest slew of new and limited-time items includes new Chicken Nuggets (replacing the Chicken Tenders introduced in 2011), a new Whopper, sides, chicken, and dessert.

Here's a list of the latest additions:

News: KFC - New Game Day Bucket and Box

With football season in full swing, KFC kicks off the new year with the new, limited-time Game Day Bucket and Game Day Box to feed you and your friends while you watch football (or really any event that gathers you around the television).

The Game Day Bucket comes filled with 8 pieces of fried chicken, 8 Hot Wings, and 10 Original Recipe Bites for $19.99.

Review: McDonald's - Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger

McDonald's Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger is the latest addition to the Dollar Menu and features a regular McDonald's hamburger bun and patty with grilled onions and a slice of white cheddar pasteurized cheese product.

As it is on the Dollar Menu, it is offered for $1.

News: Taco Bell - New Variety Taco 12 Pack

Along with the new Loaded Grillers, Taco Bell introduces the new Variety Taco 12 Pack. Similar to the Taco Party Pack, the new 12 pack of tacos builds on the popularity of the Doritos Locos Taco in offering 6 Doritos Locos Tacos plus 6 Crunchy Tacos for $12.99.

The promotional material for the new variety pack highlights the 12 pack as ideal for football game days. The tagline for the variety pack is: "A game day tradition since right now."

You can check out the commercial for the Variety Taco 12 Pack below:

News: Dairy Queen - January 2013 Blizzard of the Month

Dairy Queen's kicks off the new year with a Blizzard that offers the variety of a box of chocolates with the return of the Chocolate Candy Shop Blizzard (last seen in July 2012). The featured Blizzard of the Month for January 2013 features a vanilla soft serve base blended with cocoa fudge and assorted mini chocolates (filled with hazelnut creme, fudge, and caramel).

News: Subway - January 2013 Featured $5 Footlong

To kick off the new year, Subway is offering the Chipotle Chicken & Cheese sub as January's Featured $5 Footlong. The Chipotle Chicken & Cheese sub features a base of chicken and Chipotle Southwest Sauce, along with the standard choice of cheese, veggies, and bread.

Review: Taco Bell - Beefy Nacho Griller

Taco Bell's Beefy Nacho Griller is one of three new, limited-time Loaded Grillers being offered by the chain. It features a flour tortilla filled with seasoned ground beef, nacho cheese, and red tortilla strips and grilled for some crispy browning. It is very similar to the Beefy Nacho Burrito offered back in May.

These are 99 cents each.

News: McDonald's - New Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger

McDonald's ushers in the new year with a new, limited-time addition to their dollar menu: the Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger.

Borrowing a few cues from the CBO, the McDonald's hamburger variant keeps it simple with a beef patty topped with grilled onions and white cheddar pasteurized cheese product. It's pretty much a junior-sized CBO minus the sauce and the bacon. For $1, that's pretty nice.

Review: Frito Lay - Hot Wings Doritos Jacked Chips

Ranch Dipped Hot Wings is the latest flavor for Frito Lay's Doritos Jacked, a bigger, thicker, and more seasoned version of Doritos tortilla chips.

The flavor is described as the "burn of tangy hot wings" followed by a "blast of creamy ranch"

A 10.5-ounce bag retails for $4.29, but I picked these up on sale for $3.

Around the World: McDonald's Japan Uses Actual Hourglass to Time Orders

McDonald's Japan is offering a limited-time lunch-time guarantee from January 4 through January 31, 2013 where each customer's order will be completed in 60 seconds or less or they get a free burger of their choice.

The tagline for the campaign is "Enjoy! 60 Seconds Service."

To show their customers the elapsed time, McDonald's employees will flip an actual hourglass (minute-glass?) to time each and every order.

Around the World: The Apple Burger Returns to BK Japan

Because pumpkin and squid ink burgers weren't enough, Burger King Japan brings back the "BK RiNGO" ("ringo" means "apple" in Japanese; not sure why the odd capitalization though) burger for a limited time.

First introduced earlier this year in March, the distinguishing feature of the BK RiNGO is a grilled thick slice of apple sprinkled with cinnamon. It's accompanied by a grilled beef patty, spicy honey-mustard sauce, lettuce, and tomato, and served together on a Whopper Jr. bun.

Review: Starbucks - Salted Caramel Mocha

Starbucks' Salted Caramel Mocha is a seasonal fall/winter drink first introduced last year. It features a blend of espresso, steamed milk, mocha sauce, and toffee nut syrup, topped with whipped cream, caramel sauce, turbinado (i.e. raw) sugar, and sea salt.

It's about a buck more than a Starbucks Latte at $3.75 for a 12-ounce "Tall" drink. I got mine without whipped cream.

Frozen Friday: Stouffer's - Fried Chicken

Stouffer's Fried Chicken is actually a boneless white meat chicken piece that's been seasoned, breaded, and fried. It's served with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy.

An 8.875-ounce box retails for $4.19 at one of my local supermarkets.

News: IHOP - All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes Return

A feast of pancake gluttony (and ruiner of New Year's resolutions) is back at IHOP with the limited-time return of "All-You-Can-Eat" Buttermilk Pancakes.

The offer is available as part of a combo or as an entree. Once you polish off the initial stack, you can keep it coming in stacks of two for as long as your appetite (or stomach) holds out.

Review: Taco Bell - Loaded Potato Griller

Taco Bell's Loaded Potato Griller looks to capture the taste of a loaded potato skin in a grilled tortilla wrapper. The limited-time item features crispy potato bites, nacho cheese, bits of bacon, and sour cream, wrapped in a flour tortilla and grilled.

Like the rest of the new, limited-time Loaded Grillers, it's offered at 99 cents a pop.

Review: Taco Bell - Spicy Buffalo Chicken Griller

Taco Bell's Spicy Buffalo Chicken Griller is purported to offer the taste of buffalo wings in a portable appetizer for one. To achieve this, Taco Bell goes with their marinated white meat chicken, spicy lava sauce (from their Volcano menu), and (reduced fat) sour cream.

The price is nice at 99 cents per Loaded Griller.